The following morning, while Velgrim was training, Lyra approached him and said, "Velgrim, I’d like to leave on my own, and I’ll be setting out tomorrow."
“Ah… Oh… did you really need to tell me that, sister?” Velgrim replied, his tone slightly teasing.
“Well, I thought…” Lyra began, only to trail off.
“Alright, I understand,” Velgrim said, cutting in before she could finish explaining. “You’re trying to overcome the barrier you’re facing right now, aren’t you? I went through that too, so I get it. Be careful, sister—you know what our family is like. Watch out for Celeste, and those twins… you remember what they’ve done, don’t you?”
“Don’t worry about me. They won’t be able to take me down so easily,” Lyra responded confidently before turning to leave.
“See you in three years, sister,” Velgrim called out as she walked away.
The day finally came for both Lyra and Velgrim to depart. Before she left, Velgrim whispered a shadow spell of protection over her, just in case.
Meanwhile, Velgrim had been training to learn necromancy, inspired by the techniques he’d seen Thalor use in their last duel. While he had an idea of how it worked, he still lacked full mastery. Over the next two days, he focused solely on necromancy, training until the day of his departure arrived. By then, he had succeeded—though the results were surprising.
"Hmm…" Velgrim muttered to himself, examining the outcome. "Why does this summon look like a shadow instead of a skeleton? It doesn’t even have a solid form—it’s like its body became pure shadow, and when it’s damaged, it simply reforms. Amazing. Could it be that I’ve created a new form of necromancy unique to myself?"
Looking up at the sky, he took a steadying breath. "Today’s the day."
As he readied himself to leave, his servant Lira approached him. "Young master, are you ready to go? Please, be careful."
"Don’t worry about me, Lira. Take care of yourself," he replied.
With that, Velgrim left the Ashborne residence, and word of his departure quickly reached Alaric.
"So, he’s finally left," Alaric murmured. "I’ll be watching your journey closely, Velgrim. Don’t disappoint me."
On his way to the academy, Velgrim considered his first destination. “My first stop will be the forest near the academy,” he decided. “While I was training there, I discovered a hidden passage, filled with powerful shadow mana. I’d planned to explore it after the exam to advance to the second year, but no one could have predicted the amount of damage they caused. I need to investigate and figure out what the Divine God of Cancer is planning. But first, I’ll need to hunt some orc warriors and shamans to prepare."
Velgrim knew his necromancy skills were limited; he could only summon up to ten undead at a time. “I can only maintain ten summons with my current mana. Although they regenerate when damaged, the drain on my mana is significant. I need to grow stronger.”
After massacring an entire village of orcs, he summoned six orc warriors and four orc shamans. “This should be enough for now,” Velgrim said to himself, satisfied with his preparations.
YOU ARE READING
Twilights of the Gods
Fantasy"Centuries ago, the battle mage who dared to challenge the gods was sealed away in eternal darkness, his name erased from history. But prophecies whispered of his return, and now, after ages of imprisonment, he has been reborn in a world dominated b...
